Yemen's Houthi militia attacks two commercial ships in Red Sea

Rebels have vowed to press on with assaults on vessels unless Israel stops its war in Gaza

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Yemen’s Houthi militia has launched attacks on two commercial ships in the Red Sea, the group said on Tuesday.

There were reports that one of the ships was damaged after coming being hit by a barrage of explosive drone boats and missiles.

The Houthis, in co-ordination with Iran-backed militias in Iraq, also claimed to have attacked a vessel in the Mediterranean. Pro-militia channels in Iraq also reported the strike but there were no reports of a ship being damaged.

Central Command, the US military headquarters in the Middle East, confirmed two of the attacks and said five drones had been shot down over the Red Sea and Yemen. “Iranian-backed Houthis launched multiple attacks against MT Bentley I, a Panama-flagged, Israel-owned, Monaco-operated tanker vessel in the Red Sea carrying vegetable oil from Russia to China.

“Iranian-backed Houthis used three surface vessels in this attack, one uncrewed surface vessel [USV] and two small boats. No damage or injuries have been reported at this time,” it said.

Centcom said the group then launched a ballistic missile at the ship, with no success.

Separately, Iranian-backed Houthis attacked MT Chios Lion, a Liberian-flagged, Marshall Islands-owned, Greek-operated crude oil tanker with a USV, with less success, Centcom added.

A Houthi-affiliated social media account shared what it said were images and videos of the attack on the Chios Lion on Tuesday.

The video appeared to show a missile hitting an oil tanker, causing a large explosion.

It was shared by an account that describes itself as the "Yemeni Military Media."

Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said the latest Houthi military operations were a response to the Israeli air strike on the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis on Saturday, an attack that killed at least 90 Palestinians and wounded 300 others, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

The rebels have said repeatedly that they will not halt attacks on ships linked to Israel in the Red Sea until the war on Gaza stops.

US redeploys super carriers

The latest attacks come shortly after the US sent a second super carrier to replace the USS Dwight D Eisenhower, which has just finished an eight-month deployment in the region.

The USS Theodore Roosevelt will patrol the waterways near Yemen “to deter aggression, promote regional stability and protect the free flow of commerce in the region”, Centcom said. The 100,000-tonne super carriers can launch air attacks at a rate of 200 per day against enemy targets.

But experts say the air missions – to intercept Houthi drones and bomb launching sites inside Yemen, have not been enough to keep the waterway open.

Two multinational naval missions, one US and UK-led, and a second, which is headed by the EU and purely focused on shooting down Houthi weapons, have so far failed to stop attacks on container ships and oil tankers.

The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt patrols the South China Sea. AP

Air strikes on Houthi positions began in January.

According to Maersk, one of the world’s largest shipping companies, traffic in the region is still significantly down since the start of the Houthi blockade in November. This has significantly damaged Egypt’s Suez Canal revenue.

“The number of ships crossing through the canal has plummeted by 66 per cent since carriers began temporarily diverting their vessels around Africa,” the company said.

Yemen’s Houthi militias and Iran-backed Iraqi militias, known as the Islamic Resistance, also claim to be working together to launch attacks on ships in the Red Sea and Mediterranean, as well as launching co-ordinated drone and missile attacks against Israel.

The latter is feasible – both groups are armed and trained by Iran and the Houthis have become adept at relatively accurate, long-range attacks over hundreds of kilometres, or even thousands, with their longest-range ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones.

But attacking ships as far out as the Mediterranean is less likely, due to what analysts call the challenge of maintaining the “kill chain". This involves having drones or other aircraft spotting a ship thousands of kilometres away, tracking its movement and updating the course of a missile or drone. It is a complex task and Houthi ballistic missiles have been reported missing ships by kilometres.